Just back from the Fantasy

[goLC]

I've posted short reviews on the Cozumel and Progreso boards, and have submitted a full Fantasy review (waiting for approval I guess.) It was my first cruise and was fantastic! If anyone has any questions, please ask and I'll answer what I can. I don't have any cruise to compare it to since it was my first, but I loved every second of it!

[JKrise]

Thanks for the recent review.

Look forward to reading it.

My wife and I just recently (Last Sunday), thought seriously about taking a cruise on the Fantasy next summer.

Have a kid in college and just remodeled an older house.

Cash is tight...so the 5 day cruise is priced right.

[arby70]

First of all we spent 5 days in NOLA and had a very good time. We stayed at the Best Western St. Christopher and loved the location. This hotel was very reasonable and pretty comfortable. Only bad thing was the hall carpet looked a bit dirty, but the room was very nice. Never felt the least bit unsafe in NOLA, but we stayed on the busier streets.

 

Now for the Fantasy. Being that it's an "older" ship, she met my expectations. She is a bit dated and worn in areas, but the crew kept her very clean. Always some type of cleaning and touching up going on the entire cruise. My cabin was R160 and it was comfortable. The bed was very nice and I loved looking out our cabin window. We also lucked out with smooth seas....yeah!!!!

 

Our cabin steward and our wait staff were excellent and got extra tips to reflect this. All the other crew members we encountered had a smile and a greeting for you whenever you met them.

 

We ate all our breakfast and lunch meals in the buffet or grill area. Food measured up to a standard buffet. Nothing fantastic and nothing really bad either. Now, we ate all our dinners in the dining room. One of the 5 meals we ate we liked. The other 4 I really did not like. It seemed like the food was drowned in some type of heavy sauce and I couldn't taste the entree at all. I got the sirloin steak one night from the alt. menu and so did a tablemate. They were so tough you couldn't chew them. Any way, I figured there would always be the buffet or grill or deli if we sailed again on this line.

 

The entertainment was good I think. We went to all the shows except the late adult comedy acts. I think Big Tex was also very good and his dancing had me in stitches.

 

Progreso was ok, but I wouldn't care to see it again. We went to a ruin for the morning and then the flea market. People there are pushy in the marketplace, and sometimes no just didn't do the trick.

 

Cozumel, well it was ok too. Very commercialized and so hot and humid you could hardly breath. But Chananaab Park was nice and the water was beautiful there. I can see why snorkelers enjoy this port.

 

All in all we enjoyed our trip, but we will be heading for New England and Canada on the next trip.

[goLC]

Arby - it's weird how we had different experiences. Maybe it's because it was my first cruise - everything seemed wonderful to me, I couldn't have asked for more! Which dining room did you have? We were in Jubilee at 8:00. I had the filet mignon, mahi mahi, lobster, chateaubriand, and I can't remember what I had the other night. I loved it all!

[arby70]

We were in the Celebration dining room, but I don't think the dining room would make a difference since the meals come from the same galley. I had the lobster also and it was good. My husband had the beef wellington and he liked it. He thought the Chateaubriand was ok, but not great. I had the filet one night and the sauce was too heavy for my taste. I did not have any of the fish and now I wish I had tried it as my waiter said he would bring me something else.

 

I did have the chocolate melting cake twice, but I never could get through the entire thing as it was so rich. But it was really good. I guess the dessert I was most disappointed in was the Baked Alaska. This did not even come close to what I have had before and I did not find it the least bit edible.

 

I really didn't mind it that much as I could always find something on the ship to my liking. It's not like we totally differed in opinion about this cruise; the vast majority I really enjoyed. It was only the dining room food and that is not the end of the world. There was alot of good food on board besides the dining room. The crew well made up for the dining room meals.

[goLC]

I was amazed at how busy the staff always was! They always seemed to be working - with smiles - never saw anyone idle. I felt bad that they were working so hard while I was feeling like a queen! They were so pleasant; when it hit me that while we were disembarking, they were readying for another cruise that afternoon!

[goLC]

Just remembered what my 5th meal was - ribs. I usually don't like ribs much, but these were very good. BTW, my filet didn't have any type of sauce on it - just regular ole' meat. The mahi mahi did have some type of sauce, but I just sorta brushed it off to the side. A tablemate ordered the sirloin every night; the first night she said it was sorta tough (ordered well done though) and after she ordered it medium well and said it was great. After all the threads about dress in the dining rooms, I made a point of looking at what everyone had on. I didn't notice anyone in jeans, tanks, hats - in fact, I had a real good time watching all of the beautifully dressed people! And this was EVERY night, not just formal night.

One thing I DIDN'T like was the way pictures were displayed. It was really hard to find anything. Looks like there might be an easier way - maybe scanning your sign and sail everytime they take a pic, then you could just electronically look at those you are interested in. That would save tons of photo paper and ink, it looks to me like. There had to be thousands of pictures left over after just our cruise. I am no techno wizard, but it looks like something like that could be done.

[gotigers01]

After all the threads about dress in the dining rooms, I made a point of looking at what everyone had on. I didn't notice anyone in jeans, tanks, hats - in fact, I had a real good time watching all of the beautifully dressed people! And this was EVERY night, not just formal night.

 

You must not have been at our seating (Celebration, 8:30)! There were plenty of people in jeans and even shorts. The last night one of our tablemates wore a tshirt that said (in big letters across the front) "I got Bourbon-faced on S**t Street". I was shocked. I would say at least half the people dressed nicely though, the other half looked like they really didn't care.

[goLC]

Wow! No, we were in the 8:00 Jubilee dining group. Maybe I just didn't see everything, 'cause we were sorta back in the left corner area. I know it wasn't just me - my 5 friends thought like I did, that we were glad we dressed up every night because everyone else sure was!

[hogwildcruzers]

The photo waste by far the biggest waste on ship.....I have always thought that over priced photos means less sells....drop the price to half of what is charged and they would double the photos sold....

[goLC]

I sailed with 5 of my very best friends, and I'd have bought more 5 x 7 sizes - if I could have. They just wanted to sell the 8 x 10, and as much as I love my friends, I didn't want a bunch of 8 x 10's of us!:rolleyes: Or you know how theme parks like Kings Island does... when they take your pic, they give you a number; you go to the kiosk and view your pics and they only print what you want. That just sounds so much more reasonable to me!

[arby70]

I really do agree that the photo department wastes a ton of photo paper. It seems like it should be possible to do the sail and sign scan and look at all your photos on a computer. They would waste much less ink and paper and maybe be able to sell the photos cheaper too. I know there were tons of photos left at the end of the cruise. They also got kind of annoying to me too. Every time you turned around they were trying to get photos of you. It was almost paparazzi-like. I realize this has to be one of their money-makers, but it was a bit much for me after awhile.

[goLC]

Yeah, I guess it is a big money maker for them, but it looks like they'd make MORE money if they didn't print every single picture they take, don't ya think? My eyes were shut in almost every one of mine - looks like they'd KNOW I wouldn't want those! (not at those prices, anyway)